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Getting Started

ARouter is a unified API gateway that gives you access to the world’s leading AI models — from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, DeepSeek, xAI, and more — through a single, OpenAI-compatible API.You manage one API key, one billing account, and one integration. ARouter handles routing, authentication, failover, and usage tracking transparently.
  1. Create an account at https://api.arouter.ai
  2. Generate an API key in the Dashboard
  3. Set your base URL to https://api.arouter.ai/v1 in any OpenAI-compatible client
  4. Send your first request
See the Quickstart for a step-by-step guide.
  • GitHub Issues: github.com/arouter-ai
  • Email: Check the Dashboard for contact information
  • Documentation: You’re here!

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Billing

ARouter uses a credit-based system. You pre-purchase credits and they are consumed per request based on token usage.You can view your balance and transaction history in the Dashboard or via the API.
ARouter passes through the upstream provider’s published inference rates. A platform fee is charged when you purchase credits.Token counts are exactly as reported by the upstream provider and reflected in the usage field of every response.
Unused credits may expire one year after purchase in accordance with the billing terms.
Refunds for unused credits can be requested within 24 hours of purchase. After that window, unused credits become non-refundable.Platform fees are non-refundable, and crypto payments are not refundable.
Yes. There is a free monthly allowance first, and usage beyond that allowance incurs a small ARouter platform fee while inference is billed through your own provider key.
Via API:
curl https://api.arouter.ai/api/v1/balance \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer lr_live_xxxx"
Or in the Dashboard at https://api.arouter.ai/billing.
If you completed a purchase and the balance did not update immediately, allow some time for payment settlement.If the charge succeeded and the credits still do not appear, contact support through the Dashboard with the purchase details so the payment can be traced.
ARouter supports card-based credit purchases in the Dashboard and crypto-native top-ups for supported payment flows such as x402.
If your account includes free credits or promotional usage, those requests are best treated as testing capacity rather than production capacity. Account-level and plan-level limits still apply.

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Models

ARouter supports models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, DeepSeek, xAI, Mistral, Meta, Qwen, MiniMax, Groq, Kimi, Cohere, NVIDIA, and Dashscope.Use GET /v1/models to see the full list available to your account:
curl https://api.arouter.ai/v1/models \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer lr_live_xxxx"
See Models and Providers for details.
Use the provider/model format in the model field:
  • openai/gpt-5.4
  • anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.6
  • google/gemini-2.5-flash
  • deepseek/deepseek-v3.2
See Model Routing for the full reference.
Yes. Set model to "auto" and ARouter’s routing service will pick the best available model for your request:
{
  "model": "auto",
  "messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "Hello!" }]
}
The response always includes a model field showing which model was actually used. See Model Routing — Auto Routing for details.
Yes. Use the models array together with route:
{
  "models": ["anthropic/claude-opus-4.5", "openai/gpt-5.4"],
  "route": "fallback",
  "messages": [...]
}
ARouter evaluates the models in order and returns the first successful result. See Model Routing for details.

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API Technical

ARouter supports three authentication methods:
  • Bearer token: Authorization: Bearer lr_live_xxxx (OpenAI SDK, fetch)
  • API Key header: X-Api-Key: lr_live_xxxx (Anthropic SDK)
  • Query parameter: ?key=lr_live_xxxx (Gemini SDK)
See the Authentication Guide for detailed setup with each SDK.
Rate limits are applied per API key and can be configured in the Dashboard. Default limits depend on your plan.Rate limit headers are included in every response:
  • X-RateLimit-Limit
  • X-RateLimit-Remaining
  • X-RateLimit-Reset
See the API Reference for details.
ARouter exposes:
  • /v1/chat/completions — OpenAI-compatible chat
  • /v1/embeddings — OpenAI-compatible embeddings
  • /v1/models — List available models
  • /v1/messages — Anthropic native
  • /v1beta/models/{model}:generateContent — Gemini native
  • /api/v1/balance — Account balance
  • /api/v1/transactions — Transaction history
  • /api/v1/keys — API key management
  • /{provider}/{path} — Provider proxy
See the API Reference for the full list.
ARouter supports:
  • Text: All models
  • Images: Vision-capable models (URL or base64)
  • PDFs: Anthropic Claude and Google Gemini
See Multimodal for details.
Yes. Set stream: true in your request. ARouter supports Server-Sent Events (SSE) streaming for all providers.See Streaming for the full guide including SSE format, error handling, and cancellation.
ARouter is compatible with:
  • Python: OpenAI SDK (pip install openai)
  • Node.js / TypeScript: OpenAI SDK (npm install openai)
  • Go: ARouter Go SDK (go get github.com/arouter-ai/arouter-go)
  • Anthropic SDK: Python and Node.js
  • Google Gemini SDK: Python
  • Any HTTP client: via cURL, fetch, etc.
See the SDKs section for setup guides.

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Privacy & Data

ARouter does not store prompt content. Request bodies are forwarded to the upstream provider and not retained.Usage metadata (token counts, model, timestamp) is stored for billing and analytics purposes.
Only the upstream provider handling your specific request sees your prompt content. The provider you select via the model field processes your request. ARouter acts as a transparent proxy.